Fluid container assembly



1958 M. F. KOONTZ FLUID CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 26, 1956 Mar/2r 1 /(0 0/? f2 IN V EN TOR.

FLUTE CQNTAINER ASflEMBLY Marrs id. Koontz, Houston, Tex.

Application November 26, 1956, Serial No. 624,237

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-264) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in fluid container assemblies.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved fluid container assembly for holding chamois cleaner fluid and for mounting a clothes wringer thereon, wherein the container assembly includes a relatively light- Weight transparent barrel through which the cleaner fluid is visible and which has means therewith for mounting the clothes wringer thereon without damaging the barrel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved fluid container assembly which includes a perforated holder in a container for supporting chamois or the like at a high enough elevation in the container to facilitate the removal of the chamois or the like from the container without requiring a person to reach deeply into the fluid but at the same time to provide a relatively large quantity of fluid in the container so that the fluid is effective for washing and cleaning the chamois or the like for relatively long periods Without requiring changing of the fluid.

An important object of this invention is to provide a new and improved fluid container assembly wherein a transparent barrel is removably positioned in a support frame, and wherein the frame engages the barrel at its lower and upper ends and at circumferentially spaced longitudinal areas to prevent any lateral distortion or bending of the transparent barrel while still retaining substantially complete visibility through the barrel for the inspection of the fluid therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved fluid container assembly wherein a transparent barrel is mounted in an external support frame so as to provide a maximum amount of visibility through the barrel, and wherein a clamping head element is removably positioned at the upper end of the barrel for engagement by a clothes wringer mounted thereon and on the frame, said clamping head having a perforated holder for chamois and the like connected therewith for removal together from the barrel and the frame.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof. t

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, wherein an example or the invention is shown, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a View, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating the fluid container assembly of this invention;

Pig. 2 is a horizontal plan 'view talten on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and' Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the upper portion of the assembly taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

' Inthe drawings, the letter A designates generally a barrel or container which is formed of a transparent material or an other type of material which permits visual inspection of the liquid in the barrel or container Afrom assent Patented Dec. 23, 1%53 the exterior thereof. The container A is supported in a frame P which preferably supports the barrel or container A at its upper and lower portions and also at circumferentially spaced longitudinal areas, as will be more fully explained hereinafter. A clamping head ring B is positioned interiorly of the barrel A at its upper end to provide a means for mounting the clamp or clamps C (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) of a clothes wringer or the like thereon without applying a compressive or damaging force to the barrel A, as will be explained. Only one of the clamps C is illustrated in the drawings, and such construction is conventional, but it will be appreciated that the ordinary clothes wringer will have a pair of the clamps C and the Wringer will itself extend across the upper end of the barrel A. It is alsopreferable to mount a chamois holder plate H within the barrel A in such a manner that the plate H may be readily removed. The plate H is so positioned in the barrel A that a person may reach chamois or other articles positioned thereon without reaching very deeply into the liquid within the barrel A. Also, the chamois or other articles are positioned well above the bottom of the barrel A so that sediment and foreign particles are far below the chamois or other articles. Thus, with such arrangement of the holder plate H within the barrel A, a large amount of cleaner fluid such asis used for the cleaning of chamois or similar articles may be provided in the barrel A to permit a large number of washings of the chamois or similar articles without the necessity for replacing the cleaner fluid with a fresh supply of such fluid, but at the same time, the chamois or other similar articles are positioned high enough in the fluid to permit a person to reach them without sticking his entire arm to the bottom of the barrel A.

Considering the invention in detail, the barrel A is preferably formed of a transparent plastic material so that the fluid within the barrel A may be readily visible through the tubular wall 10 thereof so that an operator can readily determine when it is necessary to replace the cleaner fluid. Also, since the barrel A is formed of a non-metallic material, and preferably one of the synthetic resins or plastics, there is little danger that the cleaner fluid will have any corrosive or other harmful effects on the surface of the barrel A. The bottom ill of the barrel A is also preferably non-metallic or plastic, but since it does not have to provide for visibility as in the case of the tubular wall 10, such bottom 11 may be made of metal or other material. The tubular wall it; of the barrel A may be cylindrical as illustrated in the drawings, but it will be appreciated that other tubular shapes may be utilized without departing from the'invention.

The frame F includes a tubular base 14, which is preferably cylindrical, but which may be of any other shape to conform with the external shape of the barrel A. The base 1 hasan inwardly curved annular surface 14a to provide a reduced diameter inner bore 14b. The bore 14 extends inwardly of the main inner bore sufliciently to provide an annular space 15 between the external surface of the lower portion of the barrel A and the inner bore 140. Such annular space 15 may be used for the mounting of electric lights (not shown) for lighting the inside of the barrel A, if desired. A laterally extend A, but the lower portion Ztlb of each arm 20 is curved illustrated to show the preferred embodiment.

and inclined downwardly and outwardly to conform with the annular curved surface 14a of the base 14. Such construction provides an increased resistance to lateral bending of the support arms 20 and, therefore, provides for an increased lateral support for the barrel A to prevent any lateral distortion thereof. Each of the arms 20 pref.- erably has a rib 21 formed therewith which extends longitudinally of each arm 2t} and which has an outer surface 21a which is inclined upwardly and inwardly towards the upper end of each arm 20 so that further lateral support is provided by each arm 20 and further resistance to lateral movement is also obtained.

The upper ends of the arms 20 are welded or otherwise secured to a tubular retaining or support ring 25 to complete the frame F. The internal diameter of the ring 25 is preferably cylindrical, but it may be of any shape to conform with the external surface of the wall of the barrel A. The ring 25 serves to rigidify the support arms at their upper ends and to provide for increased lateral support to prevent any shifting of the barrel A at its upper end. The entire frame F, including the base 14, arms 20 and upper support ring is ordinarily formed of metal or other non-transparent material which has a greater strength than the material used in the construction of the barrel A. Thus, the frame F provides the strength for the assembly, but because of its particular construction, the transparent Wall 10 of the barrel A is still visible almost in its entirety so that the fluid within the barrel A may be continuously inspected visually.

To facilitate the lifting of the assembly, handles 26 may be mounted on the external surface of the upper support ring 25. The handles 26 may be of various constructions, but as illustrated in the drawings, each handle 26 is formed in a loop which is substantially complete and the inner ends 26a thereof extend through pivot brackets 27 which are welded or otherwise aflixed to the ring 25. Each handle 26 is adapted to hang vertically downwardly as shown in Fig. 3, but it is pivotable about the pivot brackets 27 to a substantially horizontal position (Fig. 2). The handles 26 are each prevented from pivoting upwardly beyond the horizontal position due to the fact that such cars 2619 are in a substantially vertical position in contact with the external surface of the ring 25 when the handles 26 are extended substantially horizontally or perpendicular to the external surface of the ring 25.

In order to support the clamp or clamps C of a wringer at the upper end of the assembly, the tubular clamping head B is provided at the upper end of the barrel A with a vertically extending tubular portion 36 and a laterally extending annular portion 31. The tubular portion 30 is positioned interiorly of the upper end of the barrel A and the outwardly extending lateral annular portion 31 rests upon the upper end of the barrel A. The outer annular edge 31a of the lateral portion or flange 31 engages with the inside surface or bore 25a of the ring 25 so that the ring 25 and the substantially vertical cylindrical portion 30 of the clamping head B are spaced from each other a predetermined distance in accordance with the length of the flange or portion 31. The length of the flange 31 is generally suflicient to prevent the contact of the bore 25a with the external surface ofthe tubular wall 10 of the barrel A and also to prevent the contact of the external surface 30a of the portion 30 of the head B with the internal surface of the wall 13. Such spacing is illustrated in Fig. 3. Although the ring B may be formed as a complete ring, it is preferably formed as a split ring to facilitate its assembly within the barrel A. The ends 30b (Fig. 1) of the ring B are therefore Since the ring B is generally made of a resilient'material, the 'split ring construction permits the ring to be compressed when positioning it in the barrel A, but upon its release, the inherent resiliency of the metal or other material of the ring B urges it radially outwardly so that the edge 31a is in engagement with the surface 25a.

When the clamp C for the wringer or the like is mounted upon the upper end of the assembly, the inner clamp member 46 (Fig. 1) engages with the tubular portion 30 of the clamping head B and the outer clamp member 41 (Fig. l) engages with the outer surface of the ring 25. As the clamps 4t) and 41 are moved together by the threaded clamping bar 42, the clamping or compressive force is not applied to the wall 10 of the barrel A because the flange or lateral portion 31 prevents the ring 25 and the clamping head portion 30 from being moved towards each other. Therefore, even though the barrel A is made of a relatively fragile synthetic resin or plastic, the wringer clamps C may be mounted at the upper end of the assembly without applying any damaging force to the barrel A. It should also be noted hat the same effect can be accomplished if the flange 31 rests on the upper end 251) of the ring 25, providing the clamp 41 engages the end 31a during the clamping action, but the structure illustrated in the drawings, and particularly in Fig. 3, is preferred because it more equally distributes the clamping force to the ring 25 than is possible with such modified arrangement just described. The holder plate H includes a plate or disc 45 which has a plurality of openings 45a therethrough. Such plate 45 is formed of stainless steel or some other non-corrossive material. The plate 45 has welded thereto or otherwise secured a plurality of vertical hanging straps 46 which are welded or otherwise afflxed at their upper ends to the inside of the clamping head B. The hanging straps 46 are also formed of stainless steel or some other non-corrosive material. Since the plate 45 is connected to the clamping head 13 through the straps 46, the entire holder assembly is removable with the clamping head B as a unit to facilitate access to the lower portion of the barrel A, if desired. The plate 45 is located at its desired position in the barrel A by determining the length of the straps 46 so that chamois or other similar articles which are placed upon the plate 45 are at an elevation relatively close to the fluid level X of the cleaning liquid or fluid in the barrel A. By positioning the plate 45 near the upper end of the barrel A and just below the fluid level X, a person may reach a chamois or other similar article without placing more than his hand into the fluid. It will be appreciated that if a person were required to reach all of the way to the bottom of a relatively deep barrel such as the barrel A, he would have to extend substantially his entire arm into the barrel and therefore it would be necessary for him to roll his sleeve up before reaching into the barrel. Since the assembly of this invention has particular application for service stations where chamois are used for cleaning Windshields of automobiles, it is highly desirable to have the chamois at a location in the fluid which will permit the service station attendant to reach the chamois without getting more than his hand wet. The holder plate means H of this invention provides such a structure. At the same time, the barrel A can hold a large amount of fluid below the plate 45 so that a relatively large I number of chamois may be cleaned without replacing the cleaner fluid. Also, the dirt and other sediment which is separated as a result of the cleaning of the chamois may settle to the bottom of the barrel A without contaminating the cleaner fluid thereabove. Thus, the chamois or other similar articles resting upon the plate 45 are suspended well above the dirt or other sediment which may collect at the bottom of the barrel A.

When it becomes necessary to replace the liquid in the barrel A, it may be removed from the frame F and then emptied, but to avoid the necessity for lifting the relatively heavy quantity of the liquid in the barrel A,

a drain pipe 50 is threaded in the lower end of the barrel A and extends through an opening 1411 in the base 14. A cap 51 for closing the drain pipe 59 during normal use is provided, or any other suitable means can be provided to open and close the drain pipe 50 when it is desired to empty the fluid from the barrel A.

The operation or use of the assembly of this invention is believed evident from the foregoing description. As previously stated, the assembly is especially constructed for use in conjunction with service stations wherein chamois are used for cleaning the Windshields of automobiles. The liquid or fluid within the barrel A is usually a special chamois cleaner fluid so that the chamois may be cleaned after each use. Between uses the chamois are left in the fluid on the holder means H, but as previously explained, the chamois remain in a position which is readily accessible for the next use. The wringer which is mounted at the upper end of the assembly is used for removing the major portion of the liquid in the chamois, as will be well understood. The assembly of this inven tion is thus a very practical and attractive construction which is principally intended for use at service stations, but which may have many other uses.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A fluid container assembly including, a tubular base, an upper support ring longitudinally spaced above said base and in axial alignment therewith, a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending support arms connected from said base to said upper support ring to secure said upper support ring in its position in axial alignment with said tubular base, a barrel having a plastic tubular wall and a closed bottom for holding a liquid therein, said barrel being removably positioned within said tubular base, said upper support ring and said spaced support arms to thereby confine and support said barrel against lateral distortion, an internal clamping head ring having a longitudinally extending substantially cylindrical portion adapted to be positioned internally of said barrel, said clamping head ring also having an outwardly extending annular radial flange adapted to extend laterally above the upper edge of said barrel and into engagement with the inner surface of said upper support ring.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, including a holder plate for chamois or the like adapted to be positioned internally of said barrel to hold the chamois or the like at an elevation in a fluid within the barrel which is high enough to enable a person to reach said chamois or the like without reaching deeply into said fluid, longitudinally extending arms on said holder plate connected at their upper ends to said internal clamping ring to facilitate the removal of said holder plate from said barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

